English claim argument essay

Pidgin developed as an oral language among the bosses and the laborers when laborers from China, Japan, the Philippines, Portugal, and other countries migrated to Hawai’i for work (Cabral, 1). The language spread throughout the majority of Hawai’i's population eventually becoming the primary language (Cabral, 1). Unfortunately for Pidgin speakers, the prevalent attitude in the US is that speaking of any language other than English is wrong. The “English Only” advocates, such as Brandon Brice, argue that “Making English the official language would encourage new migrants to learn the language of the country they have adopted as theirs. The end goal is to unite the American people, while improving the lives of immigrants and native-born speakers” (Brice, 1). Brice declares that mandating English as the official language would save billions in federal spending and implies that mandating English as the official language would avert the accidents and lost productivity that is “caused by the millions of people who don’t speak English” (Brice, 1). Brice is especially incensed by the regions in America where a language other than English is prevalent and claims that “by catering to non-English speakers, we are creating linguistic ghettos” (Brice, 2). My reading of Brice’s arguments have been significantly influenced by this class. What I read now is that Brice is prejudiced against any person who does not speak English as fluently as a native-born speaker. Further Brice does not want to make an effort to understand any person who does not speak English as fluently as a native-born speaker, but instead demands that this person accommodate his inability to speak any language other than English.

In Hawai’i, the teachers have used many different tactics to discourage the use of Pidgin. The tactics include shaming the children for speaking Pidgin and scaring the children to not speak Pidgin by impressing on the students that there are many things that they cannot do if they speak Pidgin rather than English (Tonouchi, 77). The implication to the students and to Pidgin speakers in general is that “you pretty much useless, good fo’ naghting den, if you talk Pidgin. Destined for be da kine deadweight to society” (Tonouchi, 78). The prejudice against Pidgin is definitely internalized by the students as demonstrated when Tonouchi offered some students extra credit for taking part in a study of how Pidgin is changing, which study included being tape recorded while speaking Pidgin, and he received the response of “Nah Mistah, I trying fo’ cut back” (Tonouchi, 77). Tonouchi makes the point that instead of condemning Pidgin as a “bad” language, teachers and government should respect it as its own language. Shifting the stance of teachers and government away from the position that speaking Pidgin is bad to the position respecting Pidgin as the first language of many students and teaching English as the second language would go a long way towards removing prejudice against Pidgin and instead supporting the students in their learning of English as their second language.

Another writer, Amy Tan wrote eloquently of her mother, a highly intelligent and successful woman, and the perceptions of Ms. Tan during her childhood as a consequence of the prejudice she observed against her mother’s “limited” or “broken” English. Ms. Tan writes “when I was growing up, my mother’s ‘limited’ English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect” (Tan, 364). Tan observed people in department stores, banks and restaurants who refused to even try to understand her mother and who did not treat her mother well and knew that their poor treatment of her mother was due to her mother’s accented English. The refusal of many native-born English speakers to understand “limited” English, and their poor treatment of persons who speak “broken” English is the behavior that needs to be changed.

The prejudice of native-born English speakers against imperfect English was conveyed to Amy Tan by her school teachers and they reinforced their bias against imperfect English by suggesting her career choices in view of the results of her achievement tests. Amy Tan writes “While my English skills were never judged as poor, compared to math, English could never be considered my strong suit. In grade school I did moderately well, getting perhaps B’s, sometimes B-plusses, in English and scoring perhaps in the sixtieth or seventieth percentile on achievement tests. But those scores were not good enough to override the opinion that my true abilities lay in math and science, because in those areas I achieved A’s and scored in the ninetieth percentile or higher” (Tan, 366). Amy Tan writes that she was steered by her teachers towards math and science and was not encouraged to write. She speculates that this may be a common experience among Asian Americans who come from homes in which English is the second language. Interestingly, when Amy Tan turned to writing fiction, she found success by envisioning her readers for the stories she would write and determined that these stories needed to be written “using all the Englishes” that she grew up with (Tan, 367). The great success of Amy Tan as a writer shows that Americans can understand and appreciate English that is not standard English. and makes one wonder if American teachers are more focused on writing that is in “proper” English rather than writing that is creative.

I believe from my own experiences with learning French and watching my classmates efforts at learning French, that learning a second language is difficult for many of us. Based upon my experiences I argue that, unless a person has a talent for languages, learning a second language sufficiently well to be as fluent as a native-born speaker is extremely difficult and probably can only be achieved by a fraction of immigrants. Instead of trying to make people feel inferior because they do not speak English fluently, teachers and schools should commend the students for the level of English that they do speak and write. If the schools and the teachers adopt a positive attitude towards persons who are learning English and demonstrate respect towards the parents of their students, who undoubtedly have worked very hard to speak English to the best of their abilities, then one source of the prejudice against as English that is not spoken fluently will be cut off.

Tonouchi expresses to his students that they can succeed in America without learning standard English and points to himself as an example of success in America without use of standard English, however I cannot accept this to be generally true. This may be true for a person who is making their career in literature, but I cannot believe it to be true for a person who is trying to make a career in business, finance, law, engineering, or other standard career path. In these careers a person must endeavor to be understood by people who speak standard English. The prejudice shown by many people against non-standard English speakers may be slowly overcome by the efforts of writers, such as Tonouchi and Tan, who raise our awareness of the different Englishes that are spoken and that the persons who speak these Englishes are intelligent and productive members of society.

Works Cited

Brice, Brandon. “Why English should be the official language of the United States.” Washington Times, 31, Dec. 2014, pp 1-2.

Cabral, Cathryn. “One Brief an’ Incomplete Timeline: Hawai’i Creole English.” Course Handout, Engl 101.02, North Seattle College, May __, 2018. 1.

Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue.” 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. 5th edition, edited by Samuel Cohen, Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2017. pp. 362-368.

Tonouchi, Lee A. “Da State of Pidgin Address.” College English. Vol. 67. September, 2004. 75-82.